I have no kids. Why should I pay for someone elses freight?
Raising the next generation is far more important than simply paying your own way. If all you are doing for the conservative effort is paying taxes, you should be happy to help out those who are on the front lines like homeschoolers.
Homeschooling parents spend a few thousand a year, educating their kids. Meanwhile public schools spend $10k-$11k+ per child.
Don't tax the homeschool family, if they aren't using the school system. But like wise, don't tax those of us without kids, who aren't using the system either.
If people want to send their kids to fancy public schools, with swimming pools and football fields and multi million dollar gymnasiums and dance studios and laptop computers for every child, by all means, have at it.
But if that's what people want, let THEM pay for it.
I was involved with the Jr. High ministry at my old church for many years. I had many students that were home schooled. My home schooled kids were the best adjusted, best behaved kids.
Home school kids, on average, are better educated, and better adjusted and better prepared for life, than the average public school child. All for a tiny fraction of the price of public education.
If I had kids, I'd homeschool them. And I'd want a tax break.
But I don't have kids and I still want the tax break.
A married couple that makes what I make will be in the 15% tax bracket, maybe just into the 25%. I'm in the 25%-28% bracket. They'll pay 10% on there FIRST $17,850. I'll pay 10% on my first $8,925.
A family with 2 kids in public school uses up over $20k of taxes.
A family with 2 kids, making $50k a year (over the average family income), using standard deductions will pay $3,600 in federal income tax. But use over $20k in taxes on public education.
I'll pay over $13k in federal income taxes, but have no kids in public education using up ZERO tax dollars.
Paying more taxes is patriotic and all that.
So if I pay for your kids, I'm just being more patriotic.
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Somebody play Yankee Doodle.
I spent 18 years of my adult life volunteering with kids at church. 13 of those years on Saturday mornings from about 8:30-1:00, when I could have been doing whatever I WANTED to do (but working with kids on Saturday was what I wanted to do). Out of those 13 years, about 10 of them, I went to summer camp, for 1 week or 2. I don't get paid vacations in my line of work. So I ate 1-2 weeks of pay, every year, so I could pour into others.
Every year we had a weekend retreat. We'd take the kids to a camp in Wisconsin. We'd leave around 5:00pm on Friday night (Meaning most of us had to leave work early). Then we'd get back around 3:00pm on Sunday. A weekend of hanging with kids, talking, laughing, having pillow fights, eating pizza, making farting noises. Things JR High boys love to do.
I have friends at a youth camp out west, that I've tried to help support. I've taken HS and Jr High kids backpacking in the mountains, teaching them mountaineering and trying to help them have a closer relationship with Christ.
I've spent time building fences, splitting wood, operating a bulldozer to build a shooting range. All so that camp could better reach out to kids.
So before you get on your self righteous high horse, maybe you ought to look at the Sunday School teacher, or Awana leader, or sports coach that pours into YOUR KIDS and thank them, instead of thinking that they should be doing more for YOUR family.
Oh...now do I think it was worth it?
I have had the honor and pleasure of either standing up or some how being in 4 weddings, from guys that were my guys, when they were in Jr High. I have been to Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Montana to be with my guys, as my guys are now MY FRIENDS in their early 30's.
My friends at the camp out west. Well the camp director is one of "my guys". One of his staff members wasn't necessarily one of "my guys" in Jr High, but he kind of adopted into the group when they moved on into HS. His wife, was on another team in Jr High. But in HS she came back as a leader on my team, where we became good friends.
And I wouldn't trade any of it.
Are you willing to kill the people who would rather not help the homeschoolers?
Raising the next generation is far more important than simply paying your own way.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Using this reasoning we would have socialist-entitlement grocery distribution centers and Soviet style clothing and cement block rabbit hutches to live in.
Gee! isn’t food, clothing, and housing more important that education?